Plant containers

ABSTRACT

PLANT CULTIVATION RECEPTACLES ARE MADE BY FORMING COMPLEMENTARY VERTICAL SECTIONS IN SYNTHETIC SHEET MATERIAL AND THEN FOLDING AND LOCKING THESE SECTIONS TOGETHER TO FORM A CONTAINER OPEN AT ONE END.

Jan. 26,1971 R D 3,557,489

I PLANT CONTAINERS Original Filed July '7, 1967 F13 ;1. 3 I 2 it;

Fig.5.

M ARcEL FERRHN INVENTOR:

United States Patent Olfice 3,557,489 Patented Jan. 26, 1971 Int. Cl. Atllg 9/10 US. CI. 47-37 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Plant cultivation receptacles are made by forming complementary vertical sections in synthetic sheet material and then folding and locking these sections together to form a container open at one end.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 651,755, now abandoned.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a container for cultivation, consisting of two parts connected together by a hinge and kept closed, after being bent, by lateral securing devices. These parallelopipedal buckets of regular polygonal cross section can be stacked empty and enable their use for cultivation purposes and their handling to be fully mechanized.

It is characterized by the means employed, considered both in conjunction with and independently of one another, and more particularly by a sheet or strip of synthetic material, shaped by the hot process in multiplecavity moulds, enabling toothed series to be produced,

interconnected by their lower part, forming a hinge; it

is then snfiicient to bend the symmetrically marked sheet by its middle, along the perforated line, forming a hinge, in order to obtain a series of containers laterally interconnected by the two thicknesses of sheets arranged dovetail-fashion.

In the attached drawings, in which one possible embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of an example without any limitative effect:

FIG. 1 shows the shaping sheet of which the purpose is to produce symmetrical profiled parts constituting the container;

FIG. 2 represents the shaping of the symmetrical surfaces;

FIG. 3 illustrates the process of assembling the strips;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are an elevation of the bucket and a diagram of its base;

FIG. 6 shows one possible application of the device.

The sheet of synthetic material 1, in FIG. 1, is shaped on two symmetrical faces 2 and 3, where, by a moulding process, a series of profiles arranged connecting-fashion, 4, 5, 6 and 7, are obtained, which can be fitted into one another. A series of shapes of polygonal cross section, 8, 8' are also formed, their bases 9 and 10 being closed and their peripheral portion open. These shaped parts are separated by a central folding line 13, forming a hinge 14. The polygonal half-containers 8, 8, in FIG. 2, are brought together in order to cause the profiled locking devices 4, 5, 6 and 7 (FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5) to coincide, thus producing a polygonal bucket with an open top 16 and a base 17 which is closed by the sectors 18 and 19 brought together and by means of the hinge 13, whereas the orifices 14 enable extraneous agents to enter the container.

The advantages and the operation of this device will thus be obvious.

The pot or bucket, of regular polygonal shape, eliminates the use of frustum-shaped containers such as hitherto adopted for facilitating unpotting and stacking operations. These containers suffered from the drawback of preventing the system of roots from developing, and the most important part of the compost, situated in the upper portion, was rendered unusable.

The bucket to which the invention relates can be manufactured in a simple manner, by shaping it from an open sheet provided with symmetrical imprints of which the jointing determines the effective capacity. The symmetrical parts. are assembled around the hinge and are brought together until the dovetail locking devices 4, 5, 6 and 7 engage. The respective shaped sections assembled by their perforated 'base enables the plants in the container to fed with water.

The strips can be either separate or used continuously on machines as shown in FIG. 6, thus separating the strips 20 in order to release the lumps 21. These strips produce series of buckets at certain intervals, with functional shapes which facilitate the mechanization of the filling, cultivation, unpotting and transport processes.

As shown in FIG. 6, the bending operation can be effected in such a way as to obtain strips as shown in FIG. 3, or else they can be separated, with or Without subdivision, by the combination of the drums 22, 23, 24, 25.

The shape of the bucket can be replaced by a shape extensible by folding longitudinally, Concertina-wise or in any other manner, and may comprise, in a transversal or oblique plane, grooves or spirals for the internal peripheral orientation of the roots, decelerating their growth.

The shapes, dimensions and arrangements adopted for the various elements may nevertheless vary within the limits allowed by equivalent systems, as may also the ma terials used for their manufacture, without thereby departing from the general principle of the invention described in the foregoing.

These assemblies may thus be used for the production of large-size containers.

The invention may be summarised as follows, continuous manufacturing process for mechanized containers for cultivation, and industrial product thereby obtained.

Characterized as follows:

(1) Sheets of a synthetic material formed by moulding and providing series of separate symmetrical shaped parts interconnected by their lower portions, forming hinges.

(2) A surface interconnecting the shaped half-containers, provided with dovetail-type assembly profiles, interconnecting the shaped parts producing the container.

(3) Perforations delimiting the two symmetrical surfaces capable of being bent, and forming articulation hinges, while at the same time enabling the container to be fed with water etc.

(4) A bucket which can be detached for individual use, or buckets interconnected by parts of strips and thus easy to handle.

(5) Continuous strips which can be used by special devices, for assembling and filling them and using them for the cultivation of plants and for their separation and unpotting.

(6) The combination and interaction of the various elements described, to provide a continuous manufacturing process for mechanized containers for cultivation purposes, and the industrial product thereby obtained.

What is claimed is:

1. Cultivation containers constituted by a parallel-sided strip of synthetic resinous plastics material in which there are formed at intervals along the length of the strip a plurality of transversely positioned troughs extending substantially from one longitudinal edge of the strip to the other longitudinal edge thereof, said strip including in corresponding positions adjacent to each of its longitudinal edges a plurality of locking tenons, said strip being folded 4 once symmetrically about a longitudinal centre line such References Cited that the troughs of one portion of the folded strip overlie the troughs ofthe other portion of the folded strip to de- UNITED STATES PATENTS fine a plurality of containers, and the tenons of the one 2,961,123 11/1960 Boydak et a1 220-102 portion are locked with the tenons of the other portion, that area of the strip which lies along the folding line within the confines of the troughs being perforated. U S Cl X R 2. Cultivation containers, as claimed in claim 1, wherein each container is of regular polygonal cross-section. 47-3413; 2204, 60, 97

5 ROBERT E. BAGWILL, Primary Examiner 

